There was a small period in the second half where he was fantastic, but otherwise I felt he was fairly average for the majority of the match. Not sure we need both him and Fellaini in the team, so hopefully Fred or Pereira take the opportunity to stake a claim in the next match where he's suspended.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 12
- Red cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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This for me too.
Bit of a daft sending off today, that aside I thought he was actually very good. Personally, think he’s been Mourinho’s best signing at the club. He played a few very nice passes over Watford’s back four today, from what we’ve seen so far he’s probably the only player other than Pogna capable of that.
He is our most press resistant player. Was brilliant today up until the needless second yellow
I absolutely love this chap. Brilliant player and he looks very much like a leader on the pitch. Pity he got that second yellow but Fred and Pereira could do with a chance to play.
We will miss his presense and composure in the middle of the park, brilliant player. Can see the likes the Fellaini struggling without him next week.
I think we'll be better without him. Fellaini is being trusted with the role we bought him for so he's a spare part in the team that makes us overly negative.
Silly second booking but at least its just a one game ban. I imagine Herrera will come in for him against Wolves, Fred seems to be out of favour now. Maybe Fred to replace Ander after the 60min mark.
I feel like he's doing his job when he's average. He was never added for bells and whistles
Challenge wasn't needless and wasn't a second yellow. We concede goals on breaks like those, very often. The Watford goal came from one of those as well. He took one for the team because Martial went walkabout.
But he was added to play to where Fellaini is playing.
Thought he played very well. Not mad over the cards either, both were taken for the ''team''.
Will be a big miss vs Wolves.
Will be a big miss vs Wolves.
There was no immediate danger and in making that challenge, he gifted Watford a golden opportunity. Against teams like Watford, who rely heavily on their aerial and physical presence, you cannot give away needless free kicks. We were one world class goalkeeper away from dropping 2 points.
When we play Fellaini in that deeper, shielding role I don't really get what Matic brings to the team. At times he just seemed lost as to where he needed to be. So often promising moves broke down before they could even get going because he wasn't in a position to receive a square pass from Pogba or our wide players - he simply wasn't keeping up with our attacking play. He's a terrific defensive midfielder but when we we aren't playing him in that specific role, we shouldn't be playing him at all.
I don't think he is back to full fitness yet. He's is far from producing his best since the start of the season. We will need him against Juventus to perform at his best.
I don't get some folks being happy that he's out the next game. Even a half fit Matic is an asset to us. He did very well i thought, and yes has to be said the second yellow was unnecessary. For a player as mature and experienced it's a bit unexpected. I'm hoping he gets some rest even though it's hardly a break.
I am a big fan, but I would like to see Fred playing in Matic's position vs Watford. I think it will make United more dynamic going forward. Have Fellaini/Matic play the shielding role in front of the back last line.
I am very glad he is available for the 1st Champions league game, even vs Young Boys I want his composure in the team to start the competition.
I am very glad he is available for the 1st Champions league game, even vs Young Boys I want his composure in the team to start the competition.
Good game ruined by that stupid red card.
I thought he was largely anonymous in the first half but imporved a lot in the second when Pogba started flagging a bit. Wriggled his way out of trouble quite a few times and moved the ball forward.
I find that for an #8 he's not really helping with the play-making or making enough runs. He's playing a bit of a "filler" role when Fellaini and Pogba are on the pitch, but he could still be contributing a quite a bit more.
Like others have said, I don't believe swapping him for either Fred or Pereira will make us any worse and it might make us better and more nimble in midfield. I mean it's not guaranteed and we might be proven to be wrong, but that's my feeling at the moment based on what I'm seeing.
We'll get to see how it works at least, now that he got a red and is suspended.
I find that for an #8 he's not really helping with the play-making or making enough runs. He's playing a bit of a "filler" role when Fellaini and Pogba are on the pitch, but he could still be contributing a quite a bit more.
Like others have said, I don't believe swapping him for either Fred or Pereira will make us any worse and it might make us better and more nimble in midfield. I mean it's not guaranteed and we might be proven to be wrong, but that's my feeling at the moment based on what I'm seeing.
We'll get to see how it works at least, now that he got a red and is suspended.
Personally I think we will see a lot more of that specific midfield 3 while Lindelof is part of our backline. Jose obviously wants more height in there as he doesn't trust our backline to deal with the high ball. Put a more commanding cb next to Mike and we will see a more expansive midfield.
I'm not sure, I don't think we'll play against many teams like we played against Watford. They were top of the table mainly (but not exclusively) on the back of being an absolute threat from set pieces. They punished Tottenham by scoring twice with headers from set pieces and going on to win after falling behind. So obviously Jose went there prepared to deal with that aerial threat.
There's not that many teams near the top of the table that rely so much on aerial threat and against faster more technical midfields that trio might get a bit exposed as slow and ponderous. So you have to balance the risks a bit.
I reckon once Fred starts to find his feet a bit more he'll start featuring regurlarly with only one of Fellaini or Matic being used from the start of games. Unless we're up against a team like Watford that is.
Was good yesterday, have to laugh at people looking for Pereira to start ahead of him. Pity he misses Wolves game because that is a hard game.
Because he's not providing enough. Fellaini is playing as the DM, Matic's average position is almost as far forward as Pogba. Fellaini is doing the job Matic was bought for in front of the defense.
The goal yesterday - Fellaini dropped into a CB position. Personally I dont think it was a good position but if we are to believe that Fellaini's job is to take up a defender's position in the box, he tried to do that. But then who's responsibility is it to take over the DM position at that time?
Surely thats Matic? And like plenty of times when hes playing the DM role himself he was nowhere to be seen as an opposition player gets his shot from near the edge of the box and we concede. He actually came out wide, was caught flat footed by his runner showing a lack of awareness of whats going on around him.
So we have 2 DMs on the pitch if we are counting Fellaini as such and yet somehow between them the DM job wasnt done on the Watford goal. A very negative setup and in the end failing to do the job.
Young Boys 0:3 Man Utd
This guy worries me. You see the impact that Fellaini makes in that DM role winning the ball back and giving the others freedom to play and I want more from Matic. Much better passer of a ball than Fellaini but he rarely tries much beyond the basic and is not moving well this season so far. Utd need more from him.
I just need to know why he insists on taking so many touches before he passes the ball
Thought he was good in second half.
He's very active. Gets on the ball a lot and through accumulation makes a lot of passes. But there are also some poor passes and touches between the good ones. I would have to agree that Fellaini's simple passing the ball and moving it on rather than trying to do as much as possible himself is better for the team.
If a player is Messi or someone like that you'd be delighted that they have as much of the ball as possible. When its a player more like Matic and not a lot comes from it, its not so good.
If a player is Messi or someone like that you'd be delighted that they have as much of the ball as possible. When its a player more like Matic and not a lot comes from it, its not so good.
Looks less mobile than Fellaini in that holding role right now.
I think my two main worries with him is that:
a) he seems fairly immobile and rigid most of the times and
b) even when he plays with a DM behind him as an #8, he's quite unadventurous with his passing and rarely makes any forward runs or joins the attack.
He's a bit lucky that Fred is playing quite poorly or his place would be under threat. That said he does the simple things right and he's still an asset.
Personally, I think Pereira in the same role (#8) adds a bit more zip and ambition while also being terrier-like defensively. I'd like us to try Pereira with Pog and Fellaini and see how it works out in the next league game against Wolves. Matic being banned is a good chance.
a) he seems fairly immobile and rigid most of the times and
b) even when he plays with a DM behind him as an #8, he's quite unadventurous with his passing and rarely makes any forward runs or joins the attack.
He's a bit lucky that Fred is playing quite poorly or his place would be under threat. That said he does the simple things right and he's still an asset.
Personally, I think Pereira in the same role (#8) adds a bit more zip and ambition while also being terrier-like defensively. I'd like us to try Pereira with Pog and Fellaini and see how it works out in the next league game against Wolves. Matic being banned is a good chance.
Creaking a bit.
Not in great form at the moment. Not exactly happy he is missing the next game against Wolves but he could do with a rest. I thought he was going to be out injured a bit longer than he has been, he might not even be 100%
hes looked a shadow of the matic of last season so far this season i know he came off a fairly nasty injury not too long ago though. i do think he could do with a little rest like others have suggested. he can be far quicker on the ball than he has looked so far this season.
Did anyone noticed how often he loses the ball in own half of the pitch? It happened with us, it's happening in Serbia NT and it's happening with Utd. Usually GK or defense 'saves him' so it went unnoticed .
He spends about 80% of his time on his own half of the pitch so if he gets caught in possession it'll most likely be there.
I rarely see a CDM/DLP that doesn't get caught once or twice over 90 mins to be honest. No one is flawless. Most of the times nothing comes of it. I don't think Matic loses it more often than that. Didn't it only happen once today?
Their Jorginho doesn’t seem to.
I haven't watched Chelsea for a full 90 yet to refute that, but I remember quite a few occasions at Napoli where he got caught due to his lack of pace and strength.Their Jorginho doesn’t seem to.
If you think a players is flawless it's usually just cause you're not watching close enough. Happens even more with opposition players who we scrutinise less than our own.
I'm more pissed off with Matic, I was screaming at him on TV, go back to protect the defence, that's your job as DM!, not further midfielders to play higher, he left defence exposed plenty of time when they went through us like we're nothing. Fellaini have done a better job protecting the defence than Matic in that role, I don't know what Matic can offer if he's not playing as DM. Look shadow of him last season.
Glad to see it’s not just me a little worried with his performances. I was all for Matic coming in and thought he would be great for us and first couple of months of his arrival he was really good, probably a few MOTM performances. Then I think it was around October November he just dropped off and has got nowhere near that level again.
He seems slow, overly cautious, holds on to the ball too much and I think he is costing us in attacking phases. Even defensively he doesn’t seem to be able to really get at people or be where you need him to be and people are right Fellaini of all people is showing him up. I’m not sure it can just be a lack of fitness as this has been happening for almost a year now. People used to get on about Carrick being useless for so many years so i’d hate to see what these people are making of Matics performances.
He seems slow, overly cautious, holds on to the ball too much and I think he is costing us in attacking phases. Even defensively he doesn’t seem to be able to really get at people or be where you need him to be and people are right Fellaini of all people is showing him up. I’m not sure it can just be a lack of fitness as this has been happening for almost a year now. People used to get on about Carrick being useless for so many years so i’d hate to see what these people are making of Matics performances.
I hold my hands up and admit last year I thought Mourinho showed a little too much reliance on Matic and I struggled to see why. I know he's brilliant in that holding role but didn't see him as dynamic as he was at Chelsea in transitioning the ball from defence to attack and thought he slowed us down a little too much at times last year. These last few games since he's been back from missing the start of the season, wow - what a difference he's made! I can see why now he's probably the second name on the team sheet after DDG. The fact we have looked a lot more solid at the back and won 3 in a row since he's come back is no coincidence and I'm sure nobody needs me to point that out for them but I have done anyway.
Credit can also be given to Fellaini for this I suppose, he adds that extra insurance and lessens Matic's defensive burdens. I think Mourinho plans to deploy these two against more testing opposition and go with the slightly more attacking midfield against the not so testing opposition. It's not pretty but we've looked a lot more like a unit since the change.
Credit can also be given to Fellaini for this I suppose, he adds that extra insurance and lessens Matic's defensive burdens. I think Mourinho plans to deploy these two against more testing opposition and go with the slightly more attacking midfield against the not so testing opposition. It's not pretty but we've looked a lot more like a unit since the change.
Apparently, he has anonimously donated €70 000 for threatment of some kid in Serbia. They were collecting a money for the threatment and he donated the money, but kid's folks wanted everyone to know it was Matic who donated big chunk of money that was needed for threatment. He also managed to secure guarantee to a hospital in Barcelona so they would accept the kid few days before the money was transferred. Great guy and class act.
Was about to post this.
Here is the link, posted on reddit
http://nsuzivo.rs/srbija/pogledajte-on-je-donirao-70-000-evra-za-lecenja-malog-dusana
As we learn, an anonymous payer who donated 71 thousand euros for the treatment of little Dusan Todorovic is famous Serbian footballer Nemanja Matic.
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